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THE DUANE 

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COMPANY. 


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ASA L. SHIPMAN & SON, STATIONERS AND PRINTERS, 

25 OIiA]VEBER,S STREET, 

NEW YORK. 


1869. 

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THE HUAIE STEEL ©IE COMPAMl, 

PaPITAL, pNE JV^IELION. 

.-4.0,000..S23. 








GEN. B. S. ROBERTS, U. S. A. 
WILLIAM B. OGDEN. 

W. W. EVANS. 

M. O. DAVIDSON. 

GEN. ALFRED PLEASANTON. 
NATHANIEL P. BAILEY. 


HON. CHAUNCEY VIBBARD. 
H. P. ALLEN. 

EDWARD ROBERTS. 
RICHARD S. ROBERTS. 

A. MAC WHORTER. 

F. W. NORTHROP. 


WILLIAM B. BRISTOL, 
LOUIS H. BRISTOL, 


j- ^£gal Counsel. 


GEN. B. S. ROBERTS, U. S. A., 
IJresibent. 

E. W. NORTHROP, 
^etrelarg. 

A. MAC WHORTER, 
treasurer. 








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DUANE STEEL ORE. 


In the winter of 1840 and ’41 the “ Steel Ore ” vein adjoining 
the township of Duane, in Franklin County, New York, and 
the character of its products, were first brought to public atten¬ 
tion by a report of B. S. Roberts^^ivil Engineer, who had been 
appointed by Grovernor Seward^Alp nmke a Special mineralogical 
survey of Franklin, Clinton add Essex Counties. 

The startling character asfjribed tj the qualities of castings 
direct from the smelting of the ore of "this vein, without the use 
of any of the ordinary rnechanjqaLftieans for its conversion into 
steel, cast doubts at the time^tJpon the substantial facts,Mr. 
Eoberts boldly, and without'any reservation, announced as 
established by his experiments..^ The thing was novel—wholly 
so. Nothing of the kind had been before known in the history 
of iron and steel. The public was not prepared to accredit a 
report so anomalous, and the discovery of a quality of ore in 
native state, that, under whatever process of conversion into 
iron, imparted to the iron inherent steel properties, equal, if not 
superior to anv artificial steekknc^wn to the mechanical arts, 
however made in the crucible, or by any other mode of cement¬ 
ation, carbonization and decarbonization. 

But this engineer brought to bear upon every fact he reported 
an array of evidence, in the shape of edged instruments of all 
kinds, in the form of cutlery and tools for the shops, that could 
not fail to convince all practical iron workers and mechanics 
that this ore was, in fact, peculiar^ producing iron and steel 
having special characteristic properties^ unlike any other of the 
magnetic oxides of iron in our own or any other country. 

The fact that he had produced edged tools and cutlery from 
castings, such as razor blades, surgical instruments, planing 
irons, axes, hatchets, hammers, scythes, &c., &c., equal to similar 
articles from artificial steel, could not be denied. The specimens 
were exhibited in the Grovernor’s room at the State House in 


6 


Albany. The public press invited all the mechanics and iron 
men to call and see them, to take them to their shops and try 
them. They did so. Without any exception the tools were re¬ 
turned, having borne all the hardest tests uninjured^ and worked 
well where the best of similar tools of artificial failed. 

In this manner the character of the Duane Steel was estab¬ 
lished, and the report of Mr. Koberts gained credit, notwithstand¬ 
ing the opposition of the owners of other iron properties in its 
vicinity and throughout the country, and notwithstanding also 
the unwillingness of the scientific men of the day to receive as 
true anything not laid down in “ the books.” Nothing is 
hazarded in saying that the reports of the geologist and mine¬ 
ralogist of New York throw little light on the subject of this 
ore, although its exceptional nature was known to them, and 
their attention had been invited by the allurements of science, 
and the importunities of parties interested in bringing this special 
ore to the aid of the practical arts. Whether they did all that 
in the poverty of their science, experience, and opportunity of 
investigation, could be done, is unimportant for us now to in¬ 
quire. 

All the experiments that had been made at those dates, and 
the most extended and important had been made by Mr. 
Roberts, were with castings. The forged iron from this ore 
had long been known as a superior iron, having a peculiar 
hardness, combined with textile strength, that gave it great 
value for wagon tire. But it had entered into the mind of no 
one that the forged iron from the Duane Steel Ore was, in fact, 
a combination of manganese and iron in the ore itself, in such 
proportions, and so chemically united, that no process of smelt¬ 
ing or forging destroyed it, and that the Duane Iron, as forged 
from the pig of the steel ore, is a natural and indestructible steel. 
Such, however, is the fact! It is undeniable, and proved by 
recent experiments, that leave neither peradventure, cavil or 
doubt about it. 

It is but just to science, the mechanical arts, and existing in¬ 
quiry in all countries as to the nature of iron and steel, and the 
most economical modes of producing them, that the peculiar 
qualities of this vein of natural steel ore, as more thoroughly 


7 


demonstrated by recent experiments, should be brought to pub¬ 
lic attention. It may help the inquiry into the nature of the 
change by which iron passes into steel, and throw light upon 
those artificial processes which have in this instance been super- 
ceded in the laboratory of nature, and have produced a perfect 
steel. 

The most remarkable property of the 'steel from the Duane 
Steel Ore is its indestructibility. Treatment that decarbonizes, 
and in time destroys, all artificial steel, has no damaging effect 
on this. The castings can be melted indefinitely^ without 
deterioration, and still take the steel character by the bath of 
oil or water. The forged iron may be heated to white heat any 
number of times, and each time treated to its bath of oil or water, 
taking each time its steel temper without deterioration in any of 
its qualities of strength, hardness and durability. 

Certainly this is characteristic of no other known iron or 
steel, and justifies the title Mr. Roberts first gave to it of 
“ natural steel.” 

The crystallization of this ore throughout the mass gives rise 
to the idea that, after being deposited in the vein by magnetic 
action, it bad been melted^ and took its crystallization by gradual 
cooling. Its traverse by trap dyke suggests the origin of the 
intense heat that melted the great mass of the ore in its bed, by 
the injection of this trap rock in its lava state from beneath. 
The uniform density of the entire mass of ore in the vein, without 
any of the usual cleavage of other masses of magnetic oxides, is 
another evidence of its having been fused since first deposited. 
The excessi ve richness of the ore is also a consequence and an 
evidence of this, it appearing in the vein almost as solid metal. 

The hardness of the ore and the presence of manganese^ with 
which it has been found by recent scientific analysis to be 
heavily charged, renders the theory plausible that both the 
magnetic oxide, as first deposited, and the manganese, were 
brought into combination under the intense heat that fused so 
great a mass of iron, and entered into chemical affi.nities in such 
states of fusion and intimate mixture that these affinities are 
not destroyed or disturbed by any heat that has yet been ap¬ 
plied in the reduction of the “ steel ore,” or its remeltings or 


8 


retempering at so many repeated high white heats. Why should 
it be considered a strange thing that this deposit of magnetic 
oxide, having been delivered of its impurities by an intense heat, 
has formed a union of maganese and iron that artificial heat 
cannot destroy, and made a “ natural maganese steel 

The maganese found in this ore would impart the hardness, 
strength, toughness, and cutting qualities found to characterize 
all the tools and cutlery made from this “ natural steel,” and in¬ 
terpret the mystery of the singular and exceptional “ black 
lustre,” and the excessive hardness of the crystallized mass in 
its bed, without cleavage, or tendency to the laminated structure 
of all other magnetic oxides of iron, in their natural veins. 

But the distinguishing characteristics of this ‘‘ Steel Ore,” 
asserted by Mr. Eoberts to be peculiar to this, as contrasted 
with the other magnetic oxides of Franklin, Essex and Clinton 
Counties, must find their triumphant demonstration in the pro¬ 
ducts of the vein, rather than from an examination of the vein 
itself For such as are interested in iron and steel, entering 
so largely as they do into all the practical mechanic arts, sup¬ 
plying in this age the most substantial elements of progress, 
vitalizing every branch of commerce, trade and industry, bring¬ 
ing all countries and peoples into neighborhood, by steamships, 
the telegraph and railroads, developing the wealth of all coun¬ 
tries, and making it co-operative to civilization and advance¬ 
ment, we have left at the office of Foote, Vibbard & Co., ISTo. 
40 Broadway, New York, specimens of steel implements re¬ 
cently made from the castings and forged iron of the Duane 
Steel Ore, for examination and trial. 

They will find there razor blades, surgical instruments, pen¬ 
knives, files, cold chisels, &c., hammered out from forged iron 
into shape, and by no process beyond raising the iron to the 
degree of heat that may be necessary for the hardness required 
of the tool— genuine, indestructible steel—equal, if not superior, 
in all cutting qualities and strength, to resist wear and tear, to 
any similar tools that can be made from the best artificial steel 
that art and genius of man have ever yet produced. 

4 hey will find there cold chisels that will cut the hardest 
chilled iron, case hardened iron or steel. They will find there 


9 


files that will bite into all other steel, however hardened or 
wrought. These cold chisels and files are made from the ordi¬ 
nary wrought iron from the Duane Steel Ore, and they have 
undergone no process of manufacture beyond hammering the 
iron into form, heating it to its red, cherrj'', or white heat, and 
plunging it into a bath of water or oil. 

We append to this article the report of the artisan in whose 
workshop, and under whose personal superintendence these in¬ 
struments were made; for the mechanics, cutlers, and practical 
workers in iron and steel, and men of large experience in the 
uses of steel must, after all, decide on tlie merits of this product 
and its comparative qualities and value in market. So far as 
we have submitted it to this class of persons, their testimony 
has been uniform with that of E. De Witt Riggs, practical cut¬ 
ler, whose certificate is appended. 

On the peculiar character of this ore we are at liberty to refer, 
also, to Charles Blair, Esq., for the past thirty years foreman 
and superintendent of the extensive works at Collinsville, Conn., 
who has made trial of this ore, and bears willing testimony to 
its extraordinary qualities. 

In view of the evidence adduced, it would seem safe to 
conclude that the problem of a “natural steel ore” has been 
resolved. It is found to be a reality. The object of the Com¬ 
pany now formed is to bring it to its great use in the mechani¬ 
cal arts, in the production of a steel that no artificial means 
known to science can produce. Its wealth to the world will be 
realized in its superiority, economy, and indestructibility of 
temper^ hardness, and unequalled strength of fibrous structure 
combined. 

“ Office of E. De Witt Riggs, Razor k Cutlery Works, 
“ 127 Union Street, New Haven, ^Lh Dec.^ 1868. 

“ I have, within the past two years, worked into tools and 
edged cutlery a number of specimens made from the castings, 
and from common forged iron, from the ore known as the 
‘Duane Steel Ore,’ in Franklin County, New York. From the 
beginning of my experiments, two years ago, I was convinced 
that there were qualities in the iron made from this ore, whether 

2 


10 


by casting in the furnace or whether bloomed into malleable 
iron, altogether novel, and so far as my experience goes, pecu¬ 
liar to this one ore. For instance, I made the best of shears 
and razor blades from the castings, and I found that heating 
them to such high heat as destroyed all other steel edged tools 
I had ever made, they still retained the steel quality of the 
metal, and by tempering, after repeated re-heatings, took strong 
and keen edge, and held their edge with wonderful tenacity. 

“Yesterday and to-day I have, however, more than ever 
amazed myself with the results of experiments on a piece of 
malleable common forged iron from this ore. My forger forged 
out a thin razor blade from this piece of iron, which was very 
soft, very malleable, and of great ductile strength. He then 
submitted this blade to six temperings at high red and white 
heats. At each re-heat it was re-tempered, and took the highest 
steel qualities. Ee-heating did not in the slightest degree de¬ 
carbonize the iron, or impair its quality to take steel temper, 
plunged into the bath of oil or water. 

“ Aftpr the sixth re-heating and tempering I finished the 
blade on the hone to different edges—first a very fine feather 
edge its entire length, to try its toughness. The feather edge, 
bent in all ways, could not be made to crumble, showing a tex¬ 
tile and fibrous toughness and strength unknown to me in any 
steel I have ever worked in my establishment, now twenty 
years old. 

“ I then brought it back to the hone and put on the common 
razor edge. The strength and keenness of this edge so much 
surprised me that I at once proceeded to try it on my own 
wiry beard, barely by wetting it, and found a cutting razor 
edge superior to anything I have ever made from the most 
costly double refined foreign steel I purchase for my razor 
blades and other cutlery. 

“ I do not hesitate now to say, that the qualities of this 
‘ Duane Steel Ore’ give to all kinds of iron made from it their 
peculiar characteristics, and that the styling of ‘ steel ore’ is not 
a misnomer. I am no chemist, and do not pretend to know 
anything of metallurgic science, but a practical workman of 
twenty years’ experience in cutlery of all kinds, having used 


11 


iron and steel from all parts of the world. I do not hesitate to 
give my opinion, founded on experiments that would have 
destroyed any other iron or steel I have ever worked, that this 
Duane Iron or Steel (by whatever name you call it) is without 
comparison superior to anything of the kind hitherto known 
in metallurgy. 

E. De Witt Riggs.” 

“ Having been, the past fifty-seven years, a foreman in works 
of cutlery in England and the United States, and being now in 
the employment of Riggs k Co., cutlery, New Haven, Conn., 
I witnessed with surprise, and aided in, the experiments referred’ 
to by Mr. De AMitt Riggs in the above statement, and confirm 
all that he has said. 

Patrick Harrington.” 

SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS. 

The Duane Steel Ore was assayed by an eminent American 
chemist, in Paris, Thomas G. Clemson, Member of the Royal 
School of Mines, and author of paper upon Physical Geography 
of the Hartz, its Iron and Silver, &c., &c. (Vol. 19, Am. Journal 
of Science), and of several anal 3 ^ses of spathic, magnetic iron, 
and other ores. He gives the following upon the Duane Steel 
Ore: 

The part possessing the properties of Steel, 64.50 
Iron alone, . . . . . .12.90 

Iron and Scoria, ..... 15.42 

This assay, giving metallic results, rather than the bases, or 
chemical constituents of those results, expresses the great prac¬ 
tical fact, that 64.50 per cent, of this ore possesses inherent steel 
qualities, and, however treated, persistently exhibits the same 
in its products. Later scientific discoveries of the effect of 
manganese upon iron ores and their products, bear particularly, 
in the light of the above assay, upon the consideration of this 
ore, as by more recent chemical analysis it has been found to 
contain a large proportion of manganese while it is free from 
adverse substances, such as titanium, sulphur, &c., &c. 


12 


The directors, however, will not rest satisfied until they have 
brought to bear upon this ore, its scientific analysis and practical 
treatment, all that modern discovery and skill can furnish. Its 
practical development will be entrusted to the most experienced 
workers and experts in iron and steel, and a corps of scientific 
men, selected from the most eminent metallurgists of the country, 
will be employed to assist in that development. 

DAMASCUS STEEL. 

The steel of which the beautiful sword blades of Damascus are 
manufactured has hitherto baffled all attempts at imitation. It 
is generally supposed to be made of slips, or thin rods, or wires 
of iron and steel, bound together by iron wire, and then melted 
together by heat. The most skilful workmen of other countries 
have attempted to imitate this process, but in vain, so that there 
is reason to think that the secret of the manufacture has not yet 
transpired. The color of the Damascus blades is a dull, bluish 
grey, and scarcely exceeds in hardness common steel from the 
forge. It is difficult to bend, and when bent, does not resume 
its shape. The principal character, however, is its water, or a 
peculiar wavy appearance, running from the hilt to the point in 
narrow lines, the thickness of a harpsichord wire, which never 
cross each other. These waving lines arise from a slight differ¬ 
ence in the degree of polish occasioned by the unequal action of 
acid upon the steel. Any weak acid would produce this effect, 
but at Damascus sulphate of alumine is acid. This appearance 
of waving lines has been imitated by false damasking or etch¬ 
ing, but the genuine Damascus blade is distinguished from the 
false one by the obliteration of the lines in grinding, which takes 
place in the latter. In the real Damascus blades grinding 
nearly removes the water, but it immediately re-appears by rub¬ 
bing the blade with lemon juice.”—(Sir David Brewster, Edin¬ 
burg Ency., 1st ed. Art., “ Steel.”) 

We give at length the above quotation, as the best descrip¬ 
tion possible of the phenomena of the Duane Steel. So close is 
the resemblance, not only in color and steel qualities, but also 
in the wavy lines or damascene, that the supposition has arisen 
in the minds of those who have wrought the Duane Steel into 


cutting instruments, that the world renowned Damascus blades 
were, and are, the product of a natural steel ore, similar to the 
ore of the Duane vein. 

It is hardly supposable that all the practical skill and science 
of Sheffield and Birmingham, and the best artisans of Europe, 
should have been baffled so long in the attempt to imitate these 
blades, were they of artificial steel. The general supposition to 
which Sir David Brewster refers, that the Damascus steel is 
“ made of slips or thin rods or wires of iron and steel, bound 
together by iron wire, and then melted together by heat,” is evi¬ 
dence that the Damascus blades have the appearance of being 
composed of narrow alternate bands of hard and soft steel, in¬ 
timately fused, which is an exact description of the Duane Steel, 
It has these narrow alternate bands of hard and soft steel inti¬ 
mately fused throughout the entire structure of the steel, and 
yet is capable of receiving, through the processes of melting and 
tempering, an edge of any required depth, perfectly homo¬ 
geneous throughout, and of unprecedented durability. 

Undoubtedly it is this ‘‘ natural steel ” structure which gives 
such wonderful durability to the Damascus blades, and in those 
countries to which Central Asia distributes a supply of Damas¬ 
cus steel, we find this idea of a composite structure prevalent 
in the blades they attempt to manufacture for themselves in 
imitation. The Japanese make their best swords by inserting 
a projecting steel blade between two plates of iron and forging 
them together, bringing the iron as near the edge as possible, 
the union of the two metals appearing in an irregular, waving 
line, at a distance of half an inch from the edge along its entire 
length, a mode of manufixcture productive of excellent results in 
the quality of the blade. 

This composite quality in the Damascus steel would account 
also for the ornamentation for which it is so celebrated, the 
natural soft lines of the metal affording an admirable oppor¬ 
tunity for etching in a variety of graceful patterns, easily inlaid 
with gold and silver. The Duane Steel possesses a similar ad¬ 
vantage, and there is no reason why our markets should not 
within a short time be supplied with a variety of Damascus 
steel razors, carving and dinner knives, and other steel articles, 
beautifully ornamented at small expense of time and trouble. 


14 


The Damascus blades had their origin in Central Asia, and 
their distributing point for the west was the City of Damascus. 
The hostile, nomadic bands, that hold the region east of Damas¬ 
cus closed against travellers, have kept the precise point of their 
origin a secret to this day, though the supply is still continued 
through the caravans that annually bring the products of that 
region to the markets of the east and west. The following ex¬ 
tract may throw some light upon the subject, as we may reason¬ 
ably suppose that the articles of Damascus steel are manufactured 
at or near their source of supply of ore, it being impossible in 
those countries to transport the ore to any considerable distance : 

‘‘ With respect to its manufactures, Karski, less so, however, 
than Hissar (at a little distance from it) is distinguished by its 
fabrication of knives of different kinds. These are not only ex¬ 
ported to all parts of Central Asia, but are conveyed by the 
hadjis to Persia, Arabia and Turkey, where they realize three 
times, and often four times the cost price. One kind, with 
Damascus blades and handles with gold and silver inlaid, is 
really worked with great taste, and might, both for durability 
and temper, put to shame the most famous produce of Sheffield 
and Birmingham .”—{Travels in Central Asia. Vambdry, p. 265. 
Harper k Brothers, 1865.) 

Near the point above described, viz., Karshi or Ilissar, ap¬ 
pears upon the physical atlas a primitive uplift, corresponding 
to the geological formation in which the Duane vein occurs. It 
is on the same parallel of latitude, at nearly or quite the op¬ 
posite point in the eastern hemisphere. In these days, when the 
planetary pulsations which upheave cities of one hemisphere, 
like the late convulsion in South America, are reported by the 
cable to have been felt at their opposite point on the globe, it 
is not absurd to suggest that particular mineral uplifts, on the 
two opposite continents, may have had a simultaneous origin, 
from one and the same cause convulsing both sides of the planet, 
and that these corresponding uplifts may carry similar mineral 
veins. It is a noticeable fact, in this connection, that the primary 
region in which the Duane Steel occurs is the only portion of 
this continent supposed by geologists to be cotemporaneous with 
the older rocks of the continent of Asia. 


15 


The Chief Engineer on the Imperial staff of the Czar, Gen. 
Bailey, an Englishman, who built the railroad through the 
European Caucasus, has had for some years past his attention 
directed to the subject of a natural steel, as the only mode of 
accounting for the character of the implements with which he 
has become conversant in those resrions. 

O 

On being shown some specimens of the Duane Steel, he ex¬ 
pressed his belief that it was identical in nature with the Damas¬ 
cus steel, and also his expectation at finding at some future time 
a similar vein of ore in the Caucasian range. It is certain that 
the ancients had in use, from the earliest period of time, imple¬ 
ments that set at defiance everything that modern art can fur¬ 
nish for cutting and drilling. When the obelisk of Luxor was 
brought to Paris it was found necessary to square its base be¬ 
fore it could be placed in position, but no tool could be found 
which would make any impression on the sienitic granite, and 
yet clearly cut in this impenetrable granite were the hierogly¬ 
phic inscriptions, deeply graven thousands of years ago by the 
hand of man, using some implement of steel unknown at the 
present day to the civilization of the west. 

It was in the Asiatic Caucasus that Prometheus, the Tubal 
Cain of Grecian Mythology, was located—chained to a rock for 
bringing fire and a knowledge of the Arts to man. In one of 
the spurs of that range, that strike down into the oasis plain 
where stands the ancient city of Samarcand, the centre of the 
caravan routes of Asia, and not far from the towns of Karshi 
and Ilissar, of which Vamb^ry speaks, may be found at some 
time not far distant the mineral vein which first gave the arts 
of civilization to the race. 

The question of the existence of such a vein of natural steel, 
or the art by which the Damascus blades are fashioned, cannot 
remain much longer a secret. The empire of Kussia is pushing 
its military roads into the heart of those countries, and soon the 
path will be open to the civilized world. It should be a subject 
of congratulation to us, that whatever may be found to be true 
on this point, we have upon this continent a source from which 
we can supply ourselves and the world with a a quality of steel 
which is unsurpassed by, if not identical with, the famous steel 
of Damascus. 


IG 


STEEL ORE VEIN. 

The steel ore vein is about fifteen miles south of the town of 
Malone, in Franklin County, New York. It is situated on the 
side of a bluff about six hundred feet high, and is traceable for 
over half a mile southward, it having been opened at its northern 
extremity. It has been mined to a depth of eighty feet, having 
been at first worked as an ordinary magnetic oxide, and has been 
found to be on the steady increase in width and richness as it 
descends. 

From its elevated position on the side of a bluff it is easily 
mined, and is also well situated for drainage. The strike or di¬ 
rection of the vein is northerly, a little to the east. The dip is 
about seventy degrees east. The walls of the vein are gneiss or 
hornblende. Veins of this class, in primary regions, are perma¬ 
nent. In Sweden, whose iron district corresponds in character 
to the iron district of northern New York, they have been 
worked to the depth of fifteen hundred feet. The vein varies 
in width from two to eight feet at the surface, widening as it 
descends. 

The ore is of a black color, closely crystallized, has polarity, 
is free from sulphur, titanium, and other impurities, and is highly 
charged with manganese. It is exceedingly rich, and of remark¬ 
able density. It has been described as a ninety per cent, ore 
and does not fall far short of this in its metal preduct. 

FINANCIAL VALUES. 

Any statement, in round numbers, of the commercial value 
of even a very moderate amount per annum of the Duane Steel, 
put into market in the shape of cutlery, tools, and implements 
of various kinds, would be likely to appear grossly exaggerated. * 
If the foregoing certificate of a practical cutler is to be received 
as evidence, its value per pound for the manufactured article 
exceeds that of the best foreign steel, and it should be so esti¬ 
mated. But waving its inherent superiority, and placing the 
figures at the lowest possible point, suppose the manufactured 
article of the Duane Steel is sold at one half the usual price, 
what is the value of one ton of the Duane Steel ? 

The value of the best foreign steel in the manufactured article, 


17 


taking the razor as the standard, and six razors to the pound, is 
$9.00 per lb. There are 2,000 lbs. in a ton of metal, giving 
$18,000 per ton, less the cost of manufacture. 

Taking the Duane Steel at one half, gives $9,000 per ton, less 
the cost of manufacture, which, either by casting or forging, 
bears no comparison in cheapness to the ordinary modes required 
with artificial steel. The single item—that there is no loss of 
metal, it being indestructible^ places the whole subject out of the 
range of comparison of expense with that of ordinary steel, there 
being absolutely no waste of material, every ounce of this metal 
being capable of being re-forged and re-cast as long as a particle 
of it remains. Manufacturers of steel will understand the enor¬ 
mous value of the fact of there being with the use of this metal 
no such thing as ivaste steel scraps. 

The steel ore vein, with a moderate expenditure of capital, is 
capable of producing from 3,000 to 5,000 tons per annum. 
Suppose it to produce but 1,000 tons per annum, of the metal, 
we have a gross product of nine millions, from which is to be 
deducted the cost of mining and manufacturing. Making the 
highest estimate of these expenses, leaves from 300 to 400 per 
cent, per annum profit upon the capital. 

Between one and two hundred tons of the ore, which will 
yield over one hundred tons of the metal, is already delivered 
from the mine, and ready to be manufactured into implements. 
The Company have secured a tract of Fifteen Thousand Acres of 
heavily timbered lands, immediately surrounding the mine, 
through which tract run several rich veins of magnetic oxide of 
iron. 

No estimates have been made of other departments of value, 
which may arise from the mixture of these magnetic oxides 
with the steel ore in various proportions. A steel rail may be 
produced, for instance, which in textile strength, toughness, tem¬ 
per and durability, shall exceed anything heretofore known. 

The advantages of the locality of the steel mine for such pro¬ 
duction are extraordinary. The Company have offers of con¬ 
tracts for charcoal outside of their own lands, at six cents per 
bushel, deliverable at the mine, which is about one half the price 
at which it can be obtained in other parts of the country. This 


18 


mine being situated' on the northern slope of the Adirondacks, 
within a short distance of the town of Malone, in Franklin 
County, New York, and easily accessible from Canada, where 
wages are very low, can also control labor at much less than the 
rates of other parts of the country ; and the mine is so situated in 
reference to transportation, that it can readily distribute its pro¬ 
ducts by rail to all parts of the world. 

STOCK OF THE COMPANY. 

Only a very limited amount of this stock is offered to original 
subscribers, at par. When subscribed, there will be no more to 
be issued. Measures have been taken to secure the rights of 
minority stockholders in this Compaii}^—every share of the ori¬ 
ginal capital stock carrying with it a pro rata proprietor’s interest 
in the whole property of the Steel Ore Mine and Mineral Tract 
of Fifteen Thousand Acres—also, ixprorata interest in dividends 
arising from each and every department of manufacture into 
which the Company shall cause this metal to enter. 




18i. .,,1.). 
















